View of the new Room 6 with the theme "The Earth" at the the Natural History Museum Vienna. Photo: NHM Wien, C. Rittmannsperger

Vienna: Natural History Museum

New permanent exhibition

With its new arrangement of the permanent exhibition area, the Natural History Museum in Vienna shows that geology is not just boring stones. In Room 6 with the theme "The Earth", visitors can learn more about the structure of the Earth up to the Anthropocene - the age in which man became an important factor influencing the Earth. At an interactive station, for example, visitors can create mountains and learn more about plate tectonics.

The GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research has contributed film material on methane hydrates and manganese nodules to the exhibition. To the human eye, methane hydrate looks like normal ice. However, it is also called "burning ice" because methane escapes from the ice when it melts. The methane resembles ordinary natural gas and is flammable. Manganese nodules are metallic lumps that lie on the seabed and provide ecological diversity in their environment.

Further information:

www.nhm-wien.ac.at

View of the new Room 6 with the theme "The Earth" at the the Natural History Museum Vienna.

View of the new Room 6 with the theme "The Earth" at the the Natural History Museum Vienna. Photo: NHM Wien, C. Rittmannsperger